Why St. Pete Pride grows and grows

ST. PETERSBURG - Saturday's St. Petersburg Pride Parade is expected to attract its highest attendance ever, making it the largest Pride event in the southeastern United States this year.

Last year, an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people descended on Central Avenue, and organizers expect to top 80,000 this year.

The exponential growth has already made the event the largest Pride celebration in Florida, and has come about because of a number of factors.

Chief among them is that a drought in Georgia that could cause more parade-goers to pour into Saturday's festival. The city of Atlanta refused to issue permits to Atlanta Pride because of dry conditions, so that event will now be in October -- leaving this weekend to St. Pete Pride.

"With Atlanta being on a different weekend we expect to see some people from Atlanta, from that area, the Jacksonville area and so on, now that they're not having to choose between which one to go to," says St. Pete Pride co-chair Jeff Klein.

Another reason for the growth in St. Petersburg is the cancellation of smaller festivals earlier this year.

"Tampa's Winter Pride didn't happen due to the economy, Gulfport's Women's Festival didn't happen due to the economy."

Many pride events are held around the last weekend of June, because the date marks the riots incited by the police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York, which began on June 28, 1969. The uprising is widely seen as the beginning of the modern gay-rights movement.

This weekend's festival isn't the only Pride function St. Pete will host this year: this fall, the Interpride 2009 conference will bring pride organizers from around the world to the Bay Area.

"This is the people who run the Prides" explain IP '09 co-chair Brian Stipsits. "So everyone from Los Angeles Pride, San Francisco Pride, New York Pride, Madrid Pride, Pride as far as Australia. We'll have representatives from upwards of 20 different countries here."

Parade info : Central Avenue will be closed from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. from 21st Street to 28th Street. Other streets along the parade route will be closed from 10 a.m. to noon. The parade kicks off at 10 a.m. from 3rd Avenue North and 31st Street., proceeding east on Third Ave. to 30th St., then south on 30th St. to Central, then east on Central to 21st St.

For more information, visit  St. Pete Pride.com